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Track(s) taken from CDA67118

Fantôme de bonheur 'Illusions perdues, caprice', RO94 Op 36

composer
? 1859; published in Paris in 1861

Philip Martin (piano)
Recording details: May 1999
All Saints' Church, East Finchley, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Martin Compton
Engineered by Antony Howell & Julian Millard
Release date: February 2000
Total duration: 5 minutes 49 seconds

Cover artwork: Exotic Landscape (1910). Henri Rousseau (1844-1910)
 

Reviews

‘Immaculately delivered, recorded and presented in every way … every track is a delight. A joy to listen to’ (Gramophone)

‘Gottschalk's elegant sensuality has surely had its most gracious advocate in Philip Martin … this is Gottschalk playing at its most refined’ (International Record Review)

‘Played with refinement and elegance’ (Classic CD)

‘The shining brilliance of Gottschalk is superbly captured by Martin’s wonderful pianism. This musician’s personality, intelligent, technically transparent, and subtly colored, matches those traits in Gottschalk with unerring sympathy. I can only join the chorus of critical praise for previous instalments in this series’ (Fanfare, USA)

‘Maintains the high standards of playing and recording that we have come to expect’ (Hi-Fi News)
This is the second of the two pieces dedicated to Julian Fontana (see La Gitanella). C sharp minor is the key, ‘andante malinconio’ the marking for this forlorn utterance in which Gottschalk’s high spirits and optimism have thoroughly deserted him. Replying on 4 July 1860 to a letter from Fontana he wrote: ‘Your thoughts on the inferior music and vulgar, prosaic style of most pianists are exactly the same ones I have myself felt for a long time without daring to express them. Chopin’s music has often made me cry while at the same time consoling me during the too frequent hours of melancholy experienced by artists who have the boundless misfortune of not having been born cobblers or molasses merchants’.

from notes by Jeremy Nicholas © 2000

Cette œuvre, la seconde des deux pièces dédiées à Julian Fontana (voir La Gitanella), est en ut dièse mineur, et «andante malinconio» est l’indication dévolue à cette énonciation malheureuse, où la pétulance et l’optimisme semblent avoir abandonné Gottschalk. Répondant à une lettre de Fontana, il écrivit, le 4 juillet 1860: «Tes considérations sur la musique inférieure et le style vulgaire, prosaïque de la plupart des pianistes sont exactement celles que j’ai moi-même longtemps éprouvées, sans oser les exprimer. La musique de Chopin m’a souvent fait pleurer, mais m’a aussi consolé durant les trop fréquentes heures de mélancolie vécues par les artistes qui ont l’infini malheur de n’être point nés cordonniers ou marchands de mélasse».

extrait des notes rédigées par Jeremy Nicholas © 2000
Français: Hypérion

Dies ist das zweite der beiden Julian Fontana gewidmeten Werke (La Gitanella). Cis-Moll ist die Tonart, „andante malinconio“ die Anweisung für dieses trostlose Stück, bei dem Gottschalks gute Laune und Optimismus ihn ganz und gar im Stich gelassen haben. Am 4. Juli 1860 schrieb er in Beantwortung eines Briefs von Fontana: „Ihre Gedanken bezüglich der minderwertigen Musik und des vulgären, prosaischen Stils der meisten Pianisten sind genau die gleichen, die ich lange Zeit gehegt habe, ohne daß ich es gewagt hätte, sie zu äußern. Chopins Musik hat mich oft zum Weinen gebracht und mich zugleich getröstet in den allzu häufigen Stunden der Melancholie, welche Künstler durchmachen, die das grenzenlose Pech hatten, nicht zum Flickschuster oder Siruphändler geboren zu sein.“

aus dem Begleittext von Jeremy Nicholas © 2000
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

Other albums featuring this work

Gottschalk: The Complete Solo Piano Music
CDS44451/88CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
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